[TheForge] now Japanese nuke plants OT: POL:

[peter fels]

Hi Jim; 

On Mar 13, 2011, at 10:40 PM, James Binnion wrote:

> It is not the location so much as a lack of vision or cutting corners or both to not provide an adequate backup cooling system that anticipates this level of problem given the plant location.

In the case of Diablo Cyn, the location is a pertinent factor for several reasons.
The single, little  access road  won't survive a major quake. The CA coast is falling into the ocean and that area is in particular. The juicy little bay there is important for fishing and general marine access. And the plant is sitting right on an earthquake fault with more faults nearby.
Also location matters because, in general, Nuke plants need access to vast amounts of cooling water and level ground. People tend to favor the same places for fishing and agriculture. Given the persistence of radiation at the plant locations, it means that people will be exposed to harm as long as people persist as a species.
The harsh reality is that NOBODY is going to clean many of those locations up. They are a long term disaster.
The USA , at it's economic peak, hasn't done diddle about Hanford,for example, even though it imperils the premier remaining salmon run in the 48 states and the Colombia river.

> There are some technologies that you just can't cut corners with and a fission plant probably tops the list. This is the problem with commercial nuclear power, commercial businesses need to make a profit and there is always major pressure to do things cheaper rather than do them right. 

There is no doubt that they cut corners at Diablo. For example, I talked to a young welder with a brand new high pressure certification who was hired on during construction and he said he spent 2 months opening new cans of very expensive low Hydrogen rod, breaking the coating off the rods by bending them, and tossing them into a pit that was covered over every day. Many other stories too.
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> On Mar 13, 2011, at 7:09 PM, Andrew Vida wrote:
> 
>> Thanks Dave.
>> 
>> OT: anyone been following the Japanese disaster at the plants?
>> 
>> What idiots deemed it safe to build nukes on the ring of fire?
>> 
>> Interesting times are now even more so.
>>